Why This ‘Undercover Boss’ Is Up Front About Taking on Unions in Delaware

GREENVILLE, Delaware–When he appeared on the CBS reality television series “Undercover Boss” in October 2013, Anthony Wedo worked alongside cashiers, servers, grill cooks, dishwashers, and managers to find out what was happening inside his company.

Wedo was president and CEO of Buffets Inc., which operated hundreds of buffet-style restaurants under the names Old Country Buffet and HomeTown Buffet and had 18,000 employees in 35 states. He sold the company in 2015 after implementing workplace changes based in part on his undercover experience.

Now he wants to be part of a bigger change by getting behind right-to-work legislation about to be proposed in one of the three counties in his home state of Delaware.

Elected officials in Sussex County, Delaware, were expected to make a public announcement on the right-to-work bill as early as Tuesday.

If such a timetable holds, the five-member Sussex County Council could vote on the proposal at its meeting Oct. 10, with three votes needed to pass it. All of the council members are Republicans.

The effort is proceeding in tandem with a similar proposal in Sandoval County, New Mexico, where the first of two public hearings before the county commission is scheduled for Thursday.